unwrapping a sphere

fritz · Aug 2005

...sounds dumb. but i have a "mace-like" weapon for a character. i would like to unwrap the sphere nice and flat so i can paint detail all over it. but i'm finding it very difficult to get the checkerboard texture to be nice and snug using max's UV tools. anyone got any advice? the character and everything else is not a problem. thanks.

MoP · Aug 2005

Unwrapping a sphere is a bitch to do in any program. It kinda depends on what the geometry looks like, and whether you'd prefer to have less distortion, or less seams.

It could also depend on how well you can hide mirroring.

For a low-poly (12-sided) basic Sphere primitive, here's how I'd probably do it:

There are many other ways too, though...

fritz · Aug 2005

thanks MOP. i figured that was what i was up against. it's funny, i've never had to do a sphere before....characters, YES. but a stoopid sphere, NOPE.

thanks for your speedy reply!!

bluekangaroo · Aug 2008

hmmm MoP u wouldnt happen to have that image still, or any1 else with tips...ya im that dumb, I cant unwrap a sphere either =/

EarthQuake · Aug 2008

heres a couple ways:

bluekangaroo · Aug 2008

awesome thx

EarthQuake · Aug 2008

yeah thats true, if its one of many objects thats the way to go, but if its one of only a few you'll get max uv usage that way.

seanv · Aug 2008

I mention also, that working with cubes that have been "smoothed" into spheres works better most times than spheres with "poles" at each end. (like the top two spheres in EarthQuakes post)

Baddcog · Aug 2008

Good timing. I made an Afro for Zero Gear and used the sphere uv to unwrap, I have a mean seam that I just can't tex good.

Also gonna have to try smoothing a cube to sphere.

Baddcog · Aug 2008

I'd like to know how you guys handle 'smoothing a cube into a sphere'.

I have Max and I tried doing an aggressive 'relax' on a cube. It worked pretty good but still didn't get really round at the corners.

Eric Chadwick · Aug 2008

Spherify modifier

sinistergfx · Aug 2008

You have a couple options, you can just meshsmooth a cube or you can spherify a cube for more control over the divisions. I like to do a spherify > relax > spherify stack for nicer edge distribution.

Baddcog · Aug 2008

Cool thanks.

There are so many modifiers I never use. I don't think I've even ever noticed the spherify one.

Mark Dygert · Aug 2008

It might sound like a waste of time, but it it helps if you block out some time each day to sit down with the help doc open and go down the list of modifiers. You'd be amazed how much stuff you've done by hand can be easily manipulated with a few modifiers.

Now learning what order to stack which ones in, that'll take some serious time. But its good to at least get your feet wet. I suggest starting with FFD, Twist/Bend, Wave/ripple, path deform and sweep.

I also 3rd the cube to sphere conversion. Things get a lot easier when you have a sphere that is all quads. Next would be geospheres then the standard 2 pole spheres.

PeterK · Aug 2008

You could just UV it in a worthwhile manner and not care about seams:

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20061019/kojesta_01.shtml

unwrapping a sphere

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